At this moment, inventive diplomats appear to have conjured up a short-term solution in the matter of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist-lawyer who, on April 22, outwitted the thugs enforcing his illegal house arrest and made his way to Beijing.

If authorities in Beijing follow through on the plan to let Chen leave China to study "just like any other Chinese citizen," it could allow Chen to take refuge in the United States during the uncertain period of China's leadership transition.

Next month, Communist Party officials will set a date, likely in October or November, for the 18th National Congress, to be held in Beijing in the Great Hall of the People. Following the congress, as Xi Jinping replaces Hu Jintao as general secretary and new members of the Politburo Standing Committee take office, China's new leadership will have a chance to establish a fresh approach to Chen and other activists — and perhaps recognize that Chen's brand of activism could be a big part of Beijing's answer to a stable and prosperous future for China.

Chen first became prominent in his hometown for going over the heads of local officials, traveling to Beijing and getting a tax refund he was entitled to because he was blind.

He soon became an advocate for people with disabilities, which led to waves of oppressed citizens seeking him out as their champion. This came to include people who had suffered from barbaric enforcement of China's one-child policy, pursued by local officials eager to gain favor with the party by forcing down local birthrates.

Philip Pan, former Washington Post bureau chief in Beijing, describes it in his spellbinding book, "Out of Mao's Shadow":

"A man from Dongshigu had called (Chen) and told him that officials were visiting every couple in the village with more than one child and taking either the mother or father away to be sterilized. ... One of his neighbors, a woman named Du Dehong, (told Chen that) a group of officials had stormed into her house and demanded she accompany them to the local clinic to be sterilized.

"Over the next several days, other neighbors came to him with similar stories, and worse. Mothers pregnant with a third child, some more than eight months along, described being forced to have abortions, weeping as they explained how doctors injected poisons into their wombs."

Chen knew this was illegal, and he began preparations for a class action suit. This had two effects: The one-child crackdown that Chen was targeting was suspended, and Chen was placed under house arrest, later serving 51 months in prison for "damaging property and organizing a mob to disturb traffic." After his release, he was unlawfully detained in his home until he escaped two weeks ago.

According to Pan, Chen has been in the vanguard of "weiquan," or "rights-defending lawyers," who want to "force the government to live up to its own laws, one case at a time, without directly challenging the party's authority. Each case that they won would bring China a step closer to the rule of law."

This is why Chen and other activist lawyers should be the centerpiece of a solution as China ponders how to handle the criminal behavior of government officials — typified by the recent scandal surrounding Bo Xilai, the corrupt official from Chongqing who recently was stripped of his membership in the Politburo.

As China has become wealthier, its economic disparities have become more glaring. Corruption makes the disparities worse and, to people at the bottom end, more galling. As they seek redress, they will see the current system as either an impediment to justice or a path to it. Beijing must decide. For a party that is allergic to any admission that it is wrong, the best near-term step is silent reform — a decision to start living according to its laws, empowering the courts and lawyers to enforce the law where public officials will not.

What role should the U.S. play? Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch (and my former boss in the Clinton White House), told me in an email:

"When we talk about human rights, we should talk about families who want to be sure that their government is protecting them from poison in the environment, about farmers who don't want their land seized without due process, about business owners who want a fair shot at prosperity without having to pay bribes. These are big issues for most Chinese. And the Chen Guangcheng story epitomizes their concerns: Here is a guy who was unfairly convicted for standing up for powerless people in China. And then, even after his sentence expired, he was held and mistreated in utter contempt of China's laws by local authorities. And all he's doing is asking the national government to enforce its own laws."

China is a country with some deeply courageous citizens and some deeply corrupt public officials. Right now, both are problems for Beijing. They shouldn't be. One can help solve the other. Let the activists be active. Rein in the corrupt officials through lawyers and the courts and the force of laws already on the books.

Allow Chen and his family to spend some time in the United States. Welcome him back when he is ready to return. Let Chen practice law. Let the silent reforms unfold.

Tom Rosshirt was a national security speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and a foreign affairs spokesman for Vice President Al Gore. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Tom Rosshirt and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.